03/26 It was a long, hot day but I arrived safe and sound in Mancora. Temperature was hovering around 100 F for most of the afternoon. It wasn’t as flat as I would have liked but the grades were easy. I suppose I was a little paranoid for the first couple miles out of town but then I settled down and tried not to reach for my machete every time a moto-taxi came along. One guy on a motorcycle did come up behind me and slowed down. I inched my hand down for the Blade of Justice but it was just a gringo on a tour. He waved and kept going. There were quite a few little villages/hotels along the beach areas but it did get very desolate at times.
The road was shoulderless all the way but it was nicely paved and there was very little traffic. The crazy Peruvian drivers always gave me lots of room but I sure wish they wouldn’t honk. Quite a few waves and headlight flashes from drivers which was a pleasant surprise. Except for a stretch of highway that ran through the desert, almost the entire day was riding along the ocean. I loved it but I liked the part when the road went into the desert even more. Nothing beats looking out and not seeing any signs of civilization for as far as you can see (at least for me nothing beats it).
While looking for pain killers (I’ll get to that in a second) I found the 32GB flash drive I thought I lost. Not sure how I missed it sitting in the bottom of my first aid kit but whatever. It just sucks that I had to buy 2x 16GB ones to replace it. I have a healthy supply of flash memory now.
My knee started hurting as soon as I left. The thing that seems to help a lot is not clipping in and keeping my foot as far back on the pedal as I can. This reduces the movement of my knee and makes riding tolerable. I’m not taking any more days off for it though. This happened before and just taking it easy, even while riding, got it back to 100%. I thought the week in Tumbes would clear it up but that just made me dislike the people in Tumbes. The drivers are evil and the people stare at you like they wish your wallet would just fall out so they wouldn’t have to bother with the whole robbery thing.
Mancora is a huge beach town and there are a lot of Peruvians here for the weekend. There are also a few gringos and cute gringas. Sadly, there is a well-established hippie population. If you are looking for a quiet place to kick back this isn’t it. Finding a room was easy. Cost me $15 US which isn’t too bad. It’s not on the beach (which is actually very nice) but I’m from Florida and Floridians never go to the beach anyway. I’m enjoying the heck out of all the fresh seafood.
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